Each spring, the Human Rights Program and the Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies celebrates the tremendous work of University of Minnesota - Twin Cities undergraduate students in human rights by presenting the Inna Meiman Human Rights Award and the Sullivan Ballou Award. Each award comes with a $1000 scholarship to the student and recognition at an awards event in late April.

Elexis Trinity is a second year Master of Human Rights Student who had the opportunity to work for Carver County Public Health, managed two conferences for the Catalyst Initiative of the Minneapolis Foundation, and has just started work with the Hennepin County Department of Community Corrections and Rehabilitation to create a community advisory board. Read more about Elexis's experiences here.

University of Minnesota alumna Emily Strasser attributes several recent accomplishments to her time as Scribe for Human Rights Fellow. The unique opportunity offered to Creative Writing MFA students by the Human Rights Program allowed Emily to travel to India to research and interview key voices that influenced her later work, and opened doors to new scholarships and fellowships.

Dr. Calla Brown, second year Master of Human Rights student and Academic General Pediatrics Fellow, is exploring the intersections of human rights and health research and practice. This past year, Calla analyzed data regarding the health services received by incarcerated youth in Minnesota, served on the Migrant Health Elective, joined the board for Doctors of Global Health, and volunteered at the College of Medicine in Malawi.

The Human Rights Program at the University of Minnesota, know as The Human Rights University, has been extremely busy throughout 2018. The program graduated its first ever cohort of Master of Human Rights students, many of whom have gone on to positions where they are putting their human rights knowledge and skills into practical action. The Human Rights Initiative awarded grants to groundbreaking faculty research projects that employ interdisciplinary methods to tackle some of the most pressing human rights issues. Our undergraduate, graduate, and professional human rights students undertook a wide variety of research projects and internships that helped develop them as the future's human rights defenders. Read more about all of the exciting events, visitors, and achievements of the Human Rights Program in 2018.

This summer, second year MHR student Ivan Lopez Justiniano interned at Minneapolis-based Global Rights for Women and supported a research project for HRP Program Director Barbara Frey's project, the Observatory on Disappearances in Mexico. During his busy summer, these roles opened Ivan's eyes to the types of organizations he plans to focus on during his post-graduate job search. Learn more about the new skills and insights Ivan gained from his summer work in this piece.

Second year MHR student Sachal Jacob spent his summer internship in DC focusing on protecting religious freedom. Through his work, he got the opportunity to attend a watershed event hosted by the State Department called the "Ministerial on International Religious Freedom." Learn about where Sachal worked, his key takeaways, and more about the inaugural Ministerial.

Professor and HRI Grantee Lisa Hilbink recently traveled to Brazil to discuss her work on the role of the judiciary's role in Chile. However, when less than a week before her scheduled arrival Jair Bolsonaro won Brazil's presidential election, she questioned whether it was still the appropriate moment to come discuss her work. When she asked her contacts at Sao Paulo University their thoughts on postponing, she received a surprising response that led to the trip of a lifetime. Read about Professor Hilbink's transformative visit to Brazil here.

Students, faculty, staff, and community members gathered to hear the latest in innovative, interdisciplinary research focused on promoting human rights at this year's Human Rights Initiative. With work spanning the globe from El Salvador to Sri Lanka, HRI research grantees shared their latest findings and hopes for future work with the crowd. Check out this article for more details.